Fiona Forde
29 November 2009
A solid security plan is in place for Friday's Fifa draw as hordes of police and army officers, private security personnel and intelligence agents descend on Cape Town, determined to stage a seamless event after the fiasco of the Confederations Cup.
The joint operation, which comes with a price tag of upwards of R8 million, started last Wednesday and will run to December 8 until the gaze of the world and the Fifa contingent leaves the Mother City.
According to Deputy Commissioner André Pruis, the man who heads World Cup-related operations for the police, a total of 1 587 agents have been deployed for the event, some of whom have been drafted in from other parts of the country to back up the local police force.
All local SAPS and metro officers are either on duty or on standby until the curtain comes down. They will be reinforced by members of the defence force, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), customs, home affairs, disaster management, members of the special task force, and officers from the anti-terrorism unit.
The joint command has already begun to police Cape Town International Airport, the city's roads, and the perimeter of the CTICC, where the draw will take place.
In the coming days, the officers will become visible in cars, helicopters, on horseback and on foot, although Pruis says a number of covert mechanisms are also in place, including plain-clothes patrols and hidden cameras at ground and aerial level. "We are taking no chances," he said.
Though Pruis was reluctant to reveal too much, it is clear the authorities are not taking any risks after the security bungle during the World Cup curtainraiser in June.
Then it emerged that unqualified security guards were drafted at the 11th hour to staff the stadiums while lucrative contracts were awarded to fly-by-night companies. The SAPS was forced to draft extra officers during the event. A short while later, the local organising committee's (LOC) security chief Wally Rhoode resigned, and some argued he was pushed as Fifa tried to get its house in order.
The issue of security is the one dark cloud that continues to hang over South Africa's promise to host a successful World Cup.
However, in recent weeks, the spotlight has fallen on Linda Mti, the LOC's security chief, with revelations in Parliament about the massaging of tenders during his stint as head of prisons. In the run-up to and during the draw, Mti's teams are responsible for security inside the CTICC as well as private security at the hotels for soccer guests.
Mti has chosen to stick with Magnum Shield, the private security firm attached to the CTICC, which will be responsible for policing the interior of the building and co-ordinating any additional security detail and bodyguards.
In recent weeks, Magnum has beefed up its ranks. According to the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), the NIA contacted it a fortnight ago asking it to vet the identified extras.
Stefan Badenhorst, who heads the 2010 project at PSIRA, said: "All of them were already registered with us, and, yes, we are satisfied that Magnum is up to the job."
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